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Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Eagle RockMon-Fri. 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 7:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
My girlfriend and I usually eat here on Saturday mornings due to its convenience, and while it isn't a complete waste, there's nothing terribly appealing to recommend it, either. They do tend to have pretty good specials, but otherwise fail to stand out in any meaningful way.
The food is the definition of mediocre. You're not going to leave planning your next meal here, but it's not bad, either. You're better off heading over to nearby Armon's on Eagle Rock Boulevard.
Ewwwwww
I worked at a diner for years, I have my go to dishes when I eat at a new restaurant that has that great 50 diners feel. How this place has so many cars in its lot every Saturday is beyond me, Unless your tastebuds were ruined in some nuclear 1950s warfare, I don't get how you could choke down that awful food and cough up that much money...
maybe i just have a grudge but every time i drive past that place I snarl...and think what a waste of good architecture.
Like many, I was lured by the nostalgic vintage appeal of Cindy's.
The food was pricey and mediocre, eggs tasteless and home fries starchy as heck. Also when I went they didn't have soda on tap, can only.
Ridiculous.
Love this place for breakfast. The kid can be as loud as she wants and no one seems to mind. Practice must make perfect cause I can't make sunnyside perfect eggs like these guys do. This is a favorite place of ours.
I liked the decor, the ambiance, even the menus. But that's not really enough to make me want to eat here. The waitresses are sweet... sometimes. You can easily get better food elsewhere. I hear they're under new management now so let's see if that will make a difference.
Alright so this is diner is probably not the best place to get some grub, but it is actually a good location for movie/tv shoots as their have been many filmed at this very spot.
As for the food, I was describe it as mediocre and when I asked the waitress to describe a dish on the menu, she was like a deer in the headlights, as she had no clue on some of the dishes. Service is inconsistent and the decor is spot on when it comes to diner standards (Tacky)
Overall, I'll pass and head to the Nickel Diner in Downtown or Armon's down Eagle Rock.
I am a fan...I have been dining here with my wife for for a few years now...the pancakes are warm, light and fluffy. The eggs are made to order. As are pretty much everything else on the menu. You want to spice it up? Ask for what you want and they're happy to oblige. My wife always orders the "Pronto", I go for a "Quickie". The omelets are quite good and available egg whites only for the cholesterol conscious.
The bottom line, it's a charming old school diner with good food a friendly service.
Their pies are tasty but that's because they use pies from Vons just up the street but everything that we ordered we couldve made at home w/o fancy ingredients needed. Food is really nothing to write home about because I taste like they really cared or put much effort into their meal they just grabbed stuff and slapped it on the flat top then served it and kept on doing this mundane routine till it was time to clock out and do this all over again tomorrow.
It's a diner. Old school menus, decor, dishes. Homeless people hanging around out front. If you want special #2 and a cup of joe, this'll do.
eh it was okay.
They have a happy hour deal i think starting at 3pm. We were looking for somewhere to eat at & the sign caught our attention. Wasn't expecting much, so better than what I thought it would be. Way better than Dennys haha.
Restrooms are outside & inside looks 70ish. Service is okay. Its whatevers. Public parking.
Laughably bad. Is this place some sort of experiment? the people were very nice, but the food was as bad as the last time my dog cooked me breakfast.
Suggestion - hire a Chef that gives a shit and/or has a clue.
I was lured in by the authentic old school diner sign. I love a good diner breakfast, but man, was I tricked by Cindy's nostalgic charm.
"Cindy" serves cold pancakes that are only a small step above McDonald's pancakes. Her eggs are bland, bacon limp, and home fries nothing more than flavorless dry potatoes. Not to mention her weak coffee. Cindy, you tease!
I wouldn't be so offended if this mediocre breakfast cost less, but for nearly ten dollars I expect much more for the most important meal of the day. Seriously Cindy, pull yourself together woman!
I'm pretty much the only person I know who likes Cindy's. I know that the coffee tastes like warm, dirty water. And the food is about on par with what you'd get in a hospital cafeteria. And it's overpriced for what it is. And so on and so on. But, you know, I can't get enough of this place. It's just so cozy inside, I love their little orange booths, I love their waitstaff, I love their regulars who sit at the counter and read the paper every morning. I love this place.
I can't give them more than three stars, though, based on my emotions alone. I will say that I have had some food there that I honestly enjoyed. The basic egg breakfasts are totally fine. And if you go there for lunch, their sandwiches? Not bad. I even like their tuna melt, which is actually cold tuna salad on toast, but the tuna salad itself is very flavorful.
One time I saw "Cindy" bounce some lady for attempting to bathe in the bathroom sink. She's hardcore, don't mess around with her.
Pray to the Route 66 Diner G-d... Cindy's has been purchased.
Check out http://eaglerocktalk.com/ for lots of local Eagle Rock news.
Let's hope that the new owners understand...
to everyone's comments about the bland food:
the food is bland because of the HIGH SENIOR DEMOGRAPHIC. they don't put salt or anything because it's sketchy and rude to do that to all the seniors. duh! it's purposefully bland. get over your desensitized tongues.
i will admit the majority of the food is OK..
BUT, the soups are usually VERY good, actually.
salads are just lettuce and dressing... some tomatoes and cucumbers.
I recommend the soups, the veggie burger, the tuna melt, and their other sandwiches. For breakfast, anything with eggs is pretty good actually and my friends are big fans of the Eggs Benedict (breakfast isn't my thing though, so I never really get it there).
The GREAT thing about Cindy's is that it's a place to go to just take it easy, drink as much coffee as you want, chat, read... there really aren't very many other places like this in Los Angeles. You always feel pressure in other places to leave once you finish eating, or that you can't just relax and chill. That's not the case @ Cindy's.
Just a diner and diner food folks! OH, another plus is that the food usually arrives pretty quick and warm. :)
love hanging out there.. oh, and the waiters are pretty cute too ;)
I so wish this place was good, but the food is just plain gross. I had a sausage of questionable meat with my scrambled eggs a while back. It haunts me to this day.
Do not know how this place continues to stay in business. It must operate on a endless stream of first timers drawn in by the homey cool retroness on the outside hoping to discover an authentic breakfast joint. Jeez. Make it stop.
First to Randy M below.
Same owners, the place was hit by a car that landed inside the building, so rehab happened. This place is always being filmed because of its authencity of diner bliss.
I like it here and I like the people. Its just food kids.
great breakfasts and they can get the food out. I like that. Your not special here, and either is the food. Its good. I order omlettes and they are tasty, warm, and yum. My bud had some chicken which he said was good. So there, its diner food folks. Pure and simple.
Avoid with all your might
From the outside it looks like one of the homiest greasy-spoons you will ever find. Once you enter it becomes a nightmare.
Our salads were nothing more than some iceberg lettuce and kraft dressing. Although bland, we could at least eat it. Oh, avoid the "honey-mustard" dressing at all costs.
My wife ordered the fried chicken. I ordered the chicken-fried steak. My steak was overcooked and the "gravy" was flour and water, not even salt or pepper added! Of course, had I actually been able to bite into it I may have enjoyed it more. My wife's chicken was another story completely. Here is the warning, be ready...it was REFRIED. It was obvious this chicken had been cooked before, frozen, and then recooked. It was all sinew and hard breading. What little she was able to get in her mouth had that extreme freezer-burn flavor.
I told the owner/manager how unhappy we were with our uneaten meals, and instead of apologizing or trying to make it right she said (to quote) "Well you're still going to pay for it!" At no time did I ever infer we wouldn't pay. My solution was simple. We had spent about $16 by my calculation. I handed her a $20 and said "You're right, I will pay, but I am never coming back here and neither will any of my friends." With that we left.
This is by far one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. Do not patronize this place, you'll regret it.
It's a shame about Cindy's. I've driven by this place probably thousands of times, and the building looks SO COOL. It looks like a classic, old-school coffee shop with a long counter, bright orange booths, and a big, flashy googie-ish sign out front. It looks like something straight out of a period movie.
I had a co-worker who was in her fifties, who has lived in the neighborhood for years. She always gushed about how much she loved Cindy's, and how she craved their steaks 15 years ago when she was pregnant. Boy, was it a disappointment when I went to find out how far downhill this place has gone. The coffee was weak, cold, and horrible, my omelet was greasy and flavorless and full of cheap quality ingredients (spinach that was OBVIOUSLY frozen, American cheese.) The potatoes were flavorless. Both of my breakfast companions' breakfasts were equally disappointing.
I hope one day, someone buys this place and turns it into something great, because if the food was better, I'd go here every weekend.
I really want to give Cindy's a better review. I wish to all that is holy on this planet that I could, because Cindy's is the kind of place I like and would have no qualms about going way out of my way to dine at and recommend to others... usually.
Cindy's is, indeed, a rarity in this day and age. From the outside, it's the kind of roadside diner that you would expect to find written about by John Steinbeck. It's a greasy spoon that's been around for decades that all the locals and their grandfathers know about, and have been to, at one time or another.
This is an establishment that on a warm spring morning I would like to go to with a thick newspaper or two, and spend a few hours enjoying a breakfast meal while catching up on current events. I really would like to do this, but sadly I cannot. For as great, cozy and down-home as the atmosphere is, staple reason for going and the cost keep me away.
I've read about and been told by many a long-time resident of Eagle Rock that Cindy's was great in terms of the tasty, inexpensive and dependable diner food that could be enjoyed by all. I can attest to this, having eaten there initially years and years ago. But I'm guessing that the business was sold to new owners. The business was closed for a short time, and the interior was "renovated" (a fresh coat of paint is the only change I can detect). Unfortunately, while the menu did not change (as far as I could tell), the quality, portions, and prices did.
Now, in terms of *how* the items are prepared, everything on the menu is prepared by the book. The ingredients used, though, can only be described as being surprisingly bland and flavorless. I suspect that whoever was in charge is buying all their goods from Sysco, which isn't a bad thing (most restaurants and diners do), as long as they're used as the base to build on and are not the only end-product.
To add insult to injury, the portions of the dishes seem to have shrunk considerably, so much so that I walked away still feeling hungry -really hungry. But I don't chalk this up to the owners being cheap as much as adjusting the menu for their base clientele, who appear to be in the senior demographic. Lumberjack-sized meals, even when paid for, are rarely finished. Come to think of it, this may also explain why the food is so bland.
I must give credit where credit is due: Cindy's is very family-friendly, and easy to find. So if you are looking for a place to grab a meal with your kids that's above the quality of McDonalds, or you need a public place to meet, I definitely recommend them for this. Beyond that, I would consider eating a little further down the road.
I had just come back from hiking and wanted to get breakfast somewhere. My uncle totally loves this place so i deided to stop here. The good thing i can say is they give you a decent amount of food; however, the food was substandard. The pancakes were rough and the porkchops were way overcooked. The service was nice and surprisingly there was a wait to get in. Also parking here is difficult as well. I mean it was ok but there has to be a better place to go.
What I like about this place is that I could have walked in there 25 years ago and it probably looked exactly the same. There is nothing re-invented, nouveau or chic about it. It's normal coffee shop fare and it comes to your table looking and tasting the way you expect it to.
Now I'm all for thinking out of the box and being ambitious with menus but every now and then it's nice to get a taste of normal.
Odd hours, interesting prices, hipsters with kids.
Cindy's has a cool sign and they never seem to be open. I've been here for breakfast only. I agree that the food isn't really that great and somehow you walk out spending $13 on a breakfast special for $4.25. The orange booths, green carpet and narrow train car like floor plan make me come back for the eggs covered in canned chili.
I've noticed a large influx of hipster's here. More so than many other places in eagle rock. Can be good or bad depending on what you want to look at.
The small orange juice is $3 and about 2 oz.
edit: this place sucks, at least get heinz ketchup.
I used to own a home right down the street from Cindy's and was a regular almost every weekend when I lived in Eagle Rock. The restaurant is used a lot for commercials and an occasional movie or two. I always have the same breakfast the #1 scrambled eggs and chili with deep fried potatoes. My favorite!! The coffee is great too!.
One negative is the bathrooms. This place was built in the day when restrooms were an outhouse in the back of the yard. The restroom is a step up from that. When I'm going to a diner I am not expecting an extraordinary culinary experience or too concerned with the decor. You get what you expect from an old fashioned diner and Cindy's hits the spot! Let laurie know I sent you and she'll take care of you.
I had been to Cindy a number of times over the last few years. It did the trick, but my last visit was just so ho-hum.
It's a bargain if you stick to the specials on the menu, but there are no substitutions, so getting exactly what you might want starts to add up. And if you're going to spend the extra cash, then there are better choices for breakfast.
I haven't been to the Griddle in a while.
I was persuaded to stop in by the retro look of the outside. Plus I've seen this spot so many times driving by since I've lived in the area over 30+years.
I stopped in after the Santa Anita Derby run on a Saturday about 10 am. I liked the dinner feel when I walked in and had no problem with parking. The dinner slowly started to get busy just as we arrived so I thought good place. We were seated and quickly looked over the menu. I was disappointed not too crazy about the menu. Nothing special jumped out at me. I was hungry especially after running a race.
I ordered the waffle sandwich and was highly disappointed. Was I wrong to expect two scrambled eggs and 2 pieces of bacon between waffles--hence waffle sandwich. Well, what I got was a large waffle with eggs on the side and 2 very uncooked pieces of bacon. I sent the bacon back to be cooked. The service was very slow and not friendly. It was hard to get the attention of our server for ice tea refill, more napkins and salsa. It felt as if we were bothering her, but isn't that her job.
We left Cindy's highly disappointed and will never go back.
The iceberg lettuce in their dinner salad is never green, always white.
I like their lentil soup and wheat toast.
Their canned chili on scrambled eggs and hash browns should probably only be eaten with a hangover.
Service is okay. The skater kid with glasses does a nice job.
I hope I never have to use their weird restroom.
Go here for convenience, coffee, diner atmosphere, and with low expectations.
Maybe everyone should avoid breakfast. This seems to be the bulk of the complaints. With daylight savings time it was 10:30, so I was ready for lunch. I'm not a huge fan of breakfasts anyway. I like pancakes, french toast, and any sort of turkey meat breakfast food...but that's about it.
When I walked in, I was oddly pleased and intrigued to see the breakfast special was PORK CHOPS RANCHEROS. Wow. Someone find a real-life Homer Simpson to consume that concoction. What DID I order? The TURKEY BURGER!!!
The place was PACKED on a Sunday morning, so how does it only get 2 stars? SOMEONES must like it here. We even had to sit at the counter cuz no booths were empty. A variety of personal dialogue between the guests and staff indicated to me that there are indeed "regulars" at Cindy's, so what's the deal??
Atmospherically, I really liked it! The wait-staff was all ADORABLE twenty-somethings with bright smiles and attentiveness and such. Sure my girlfriend's strawberry waffle came out late, but we were in no hurry to get anywhere. We enjoyed refills on coffee and speculating on the lives of the many people in the pictures behind the counter. "Which one is Cindy?" I wondered.
The food was pretty good. Diner food, yes, but my turkey burger was tasty and the toppings were fresh. Definitely better than the turkey burger I got at Hamburger Mary's (see other review). The only thing that made me really mad was the Del Monte brand ketchup. SERIOUSLY?? WHERE'S THE HEINZ!!?? Any native Pittsburgher is heartbroken at the site of any other ketchup. Fries were like steak fries. I found them to be hot, crisp, and tasty. Girlfriend said corned-beef hash and waffle were good. We'd read the poor reviews of Cindy's prior to going there, so I asked her, "Good...that's better than just acceptable, right??" She said, "Yes." I thought the prices were fair too...on the same level as anywhere else.
We like it. We'll be back!!
yes the food is bad,
my last breakfast: creepy sausage that looked like small wet turds from a backed up Pekinese, nestled next to bland pancakes and eggs.
...so why do I keep returning, I don't know but I do ok ...I do.
this place only looks like an old-fashioned american diner.
another example of "eagle rock food". high prices, bland taste, soft drinks sold in the can only, store bought pies on display....
many better alternatives, but just not really in eagle rock.
The food is just OK, been eating there for 10+ years, it looks so homey and 50's nostalgic genre type place, sadly the food is disappointing. The food is cheap, bland and flavorless, like a bad high school or hospital cafeteria, just the cheapest of everything and it shows. Nothing served there is even a little above average, almost everything could be make better at home very easily. They make lots of movies there because of the looks of the place, think I have tried everything on the menu and the food goes between a D to a C but never even better than that, its sad, if this place had food even a little better they would have a big crowd because of the looks of this place, wish I had better things to say about it. I've seen the owner lady unloading smart and final food into the restaurant many times, sadly the food comes out cheap, boring and bland, the salads are white iceberg lettuce with the cheapest generic dressing and not worth eating much less paying for. This place would be a gold mine business if the food could move from C- to even a B because of the location and looks of the place. Sad. I have to assume the owners know the food is substandard and just don't care, what an opportunity they are letting slip through their fingers!
ive been here a few times with my boyfriend because its near his place... he likes the eggs benedict. not anything to write home about but it serves its purpose and is kinda cheap. the OJ as someone already mentioned is a complete rip-off, they try to charge you more for the "fresh squeezed" because its not sunny D. the pancakes taste like powder. i pretty much started refusing to eat here like 4 months ago and no one really argued with that. the omelettes dont have cheese.
i cant imagine ordering anything not egg-related as its probably a hungry man reheated frozen dinner.
just.. dont go there.
yep, food is garbage. based on prior reviews i went for something that had to be cooked: the eggs & pancakes. w/ coffee & tax, about $7. eating not dining. fine for what it is. counter service was fast which was nice
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